


Weaving a Crown of Yellow Roses

by lydia_rogue



Category: RWBY
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Team CFVY - Freeform, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-20
Updated: 2016-07-20
Packaged: 2018-07-25 14:00:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7535542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lydia_rogue/pseuds/lydia_rogue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a stressful start to their second year at Beacon, Coco takes her teammates out somewhere special before the Vytal Festival begins.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Weaving a Crown of Yellow Roses

The cool mountain air sent a slight shiver down Coco's spine. She lowered her sunglasses to take a closer look at Fox, though he seemed unaffected, even wearing only a vest.

She'd promised her team a quiet weekend out - away from the stress of school and invading grimm - and that's what she'd give them. The mountain she'd picked for their destination was well within the kingdom's borders, but grimm were known to slip through. At least, that's what she told herself as she lagged behind, checking and rechecking the path they'd taken up, even though she'd been here hundreds of times before and had never seen one. It wasn't paranoia when it _could_ happen.

Focused as she was on the forest, she didn't see Yatsuhashi approach until she turned and he was in front of her. Fox and Velvet were some distance ahead on the trail, seemingly unaware that their partners had stopped.

"Coco, we're here to relax." Yatsuhashi's gentle admonishment drew her attention back to him.

She tried to glare at him, tell him that she knew that, but the words died in her throat when she saw how tight his smile was. 

"That means you too, fearless leader," he added when she didn't respond right away.

The past month had taken its toll on all of them, and her hyper-vigilance wasn't helping them relax. "I'll try," she promised. She wouldn't admit it out loud, but part of her anxiety stemmed from _where_ they were. It was one of the few places she felt like she belonged without pressure to be someone specific. She'd never taken anyone else here before.

Her childhood home wasn't far from the mountain's base - the wilderness a comforting presence whenever they had been in town. She first climbed the slopes when she was ten and just trying to get away from home for a little bit. Not _run away_ like her mother thought, just get out and on her own for a little while. It'd become her safe space. When her parents had wanted to develop the land, she had offered to buy it from them instead.

They sold it readily, assuming she wanted to invest in it like they had planned. Instead, she let the land lay fallow, ignoring their suggestions on how to turn a profit on it.

She had considered, very briefly, bringing them up to her favorite meadow about halfway up the slope to _show_ them why she'd wanted it, but something had always stopped her. She loved her biological family, but they didn't belong up here with her. It was something special.

Over time, they proved that they didn't even want to try and see the land for what it really was. When the lectures on how it was an investment - and advice on how to maximize the profit potential - became insufferable, she had escaped to the mountain, creating the trail that meandered up the slope. 

The forest on the way up was probably worth something as timber. The mountain itself, no doubt, contained plenty to mine. But she'd never checked. It wasn't an _investment_ : it was a _sanctuary_. She wouldn't do anything to ruin the pristine area.

It was worth more to her untouched.

She lingered behind again, but this time to let her teammates enter the clearing at the end of the trail first. Even Fox paused as the cool mountain air gave way abruptly to the warm, spring-like sun. Velvet gasped at the sight - despite being mid-autumn, the field was covered in an unseasonable carpet of wildflowers. A deer and her fawn were grazing at the far side, undisturbed by their appearance, even when Velvet pulled out her camera and crept closer to get photos.

Fox turned his face up towards the sky, basking in the warmth. Nearby, Yatsuhashi dug out an apple from the picnic basket to help Velvet lure the doe and her baby closer.

Coco smiled and spread out the picnic blanket beside her favorite oak - one she used to climb when she was younger. The rough bark against her back served as a reminder of the many summers spent among the branches. Something tight in the pit of her stomach eased as she settled into the familiar location and watched her teammates unwind, enjoying the surrounding area.

Fox ended up joining her first, sprawling out on his back on the blanket. 

She felt a twinge of guilt as she looked at him. "I'm sorry, the scenery probably loses a lot of its charm if you can't see it…"

He propped himself up on his elbows. "It's _warm_. The birds are singing. Velvet's trying not to giggle and scare away whatever she's trying to photograph."

"Deer," Coco filled him in. She closed her eyes as he continued describing the area in ways she'd never noticed, too caught up in the visual beauty to pay attention to the rest of it.

"I can smell the flowers, and if I concentrate I can feel the butterflies - or bees? - flitting about." He lay back down. "And," he said, tapping her knee, a small smirk on his face, "you've started to relax for the first time all week, Coco. I love it here."

A small smile crossed her face at his words. "It's pretty great, isn't it?"

* * *

She was a little surprised at how easily she fell asleep. It wasn't the first time she'd taken a quick nap at that spot, but she didn't think it'd happen with other people around. 

Some time later she woke suddenly to some change in the environment. She took stock of the situation, eyes still closed. Velvet was giggling, but that wasn't it - there was _something_ on her beret. She could just barely hear the click of Velvet's camera shutter over the giggling, so she peered at her teammate over the rim of her sunglasses just in time to catch her taking a picture.

Content that there wasn't any actual threat, she slid the sunglasses back on and closed her eyes. "Velvet. What's on my head?"

"Same thing that's on Fox's head," Yatsuhashi answered, sounding _far_ too pleased with himself.

So she opened her eyes again to look at her partner. Fox beamed at her, a hard-light copy of a daisy flower crown perched on top of his tousled hair.

Coco looked back to Yatsu. "Somehow I don't think Velvet gave me _daisies_."

Velvet turned bright red, holding up the real version of an iris flower crown as Fox asked, "What's wrong with daisies?"

"Nothing; daisies are wonderful." Coco couldn't hide the grin that was making Velvet blush even harder. "Doesn't Yatsu get one?"

Yatsuhashi cocked his head just as Velvet snapped a photo of a crown of heather, summoning it a moment later and placing it on her partner's head.

He raised an eyebrow at the rest of them. "Daisies?" he echoed, barely keeping himself from grinning.

"Nothing!" Velvet asked, camera held aloft to hide her blushing cheeks.

Coco rolled her eyes at her teammate, then reached over and grabbed the crowns from Velvet's lap and started reweaving them together. "I didn't know your camera could do more than weapons," she said, changing the subject before even Fox noticed how badly she was blushing.

"I would guess it can do anything inanimate. I've not really tested it beyond weapons, since that's what I really wanted." Velvet reached over and snagged Coco's beret, ignoring the startled yelp from its owner and took a photo of it. Coco grumbled a bit as she tried to smooth her hair back down but she did nothing to hide her smile.

A pleased grin crossed Velvet's face when a replica of the beret appeared a moment later on Coco's head.

"I don't think blue's really my color, Velvs." She held up the new flower crown she'd made from the original three. "Trade you."

Velvet took the flower crown and put it on, ears twitching as she did. 

But instead of putting her beret on, Coco fidgeted with it for a moment as if unsure of what she was doing before setting it on the blanket next to her, carefully placing her sunglasses on top. She blinked a couple of times as her eyes adjusted to the sunlight.

Velvet took a picture of a bright yellow songbird that had perched nearby. "What is this place? I've never seen anything like it."

"It's just a piece of land I've had for a while." Coco ducked her head to avoid their gazes, not really wanting to go into what the place meant to her. She reached for her sunglasses and beret again, but Yatsuhashi's hand on hers stopped her. 

"It's special." He retracted his hand and looked up at the clear blue sky.

She didn't put them back on, instead she busied herself with the contents of the picnic basket. 

"I've been coming here since I was a little girl. I bought it from my parents when I was fifteen." Coco looked up from the basket. Velvet had gotten distracted, teaching Fox how to identify the different flowers by touch and scent alone. Yatsu was paying attention to her, though his eyes were closed. He looked at at peace for the first time since the battle in downtown Vale City. 

"I've never brought anyone else up here." She looked down at her beret and sunglasses, clenching her fists to resist the temptation to put them on again. She didn't _need_ them here, or around them. 

"Thank you," he said, though it was barely more than a whisper.

She shook her head, looking around at the three of them. There was no need for them to thank her. 

If anything, _she_ was the one who owed _them_ thanks.

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thank you to [StVincent](http://archiveofourown.org/users/StVincent/pseuds/StVincent) and [Liara_90](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liara_90/pseuds/Liara_90/) for the help and the beta and just everything.
> 
> Flower Meanings:  
> [Yellow Rose](http://www.passiongrowers.com/web/ot/colors.asp)\- Friendship  
> [Iris](http://www.flowermeaning.com/iris-flower-meaning/) \- Faith, Wisdom, Hope, Valor  
> [Daisy](http://www.flowermeaning.com/daisy-flower-meaning/) \- True Love  
> [Heather](http://www.flowermeaning.com/heather-flower-meaning/) \- Protection, Worthy of Admiration
> 
> Artwork from the amazing and wonderful [Ro](http://robotic-art.tumblr.com):  
> [Coco](http://robotic-art.tumblr.com/post/142839070542/another-commission-this-time-of-coco-adel-with-a)  
> [Fox](http://robotic-art.tumblr.com/post/141840380031/commission-of-fox-alistair-with-velvet-made-flower)  
> [Yatsu](http://robotic-art.tumblr.com/post/147430419641/velvet-got-you-too-huh-yatuhashi-daichi-both)
> 
> Edit 6/5/2017:
> 
> Huge thank you to Ling_San aka MachiavelliwithGlasses for commissioning [this](https://machiavelliwithglasses.tumblr.com/post/161470136651/okay-since-the-last-one-was-in-a-lower-resolution) _beautiful_ piece of art from [Nliast](https://nliast.tumblr.com/)! ;-; I'm going to go cry in a corner now y'all their art is beautiful and this brightened my month.


End file.
